Tribune Co

Tribune Co. will have to mount some persuasive arguments why regulators should allow real estate mogul Sam Zell to take the media company private, Federal Communications Commissioner Michael J. Copps said. "This is a multifaceted proceeding, so I am not going to prejudge it. I will look at it in terms of the world we live in," Copps said on the sidelines of the National Assn. of Broadcasters' annual conference.

"Salem," the first original series from WGN America, drew 2.3 million viewers over four airings in its first night, according to Nielsen. The premiere telecast at 7 p.m. Pacific Time on Sunday (10 p.m. ET) delivered 1.5 million viewers overall and 647,000 people in the key 18- to 49-year-old demographic. In the key demo, that's more than seven times what the cable channel has delivered on average in the time slot this season. "We are thrilled with the audience turnout and reaction to 'Salem,'" said Matt Cherniss, president and general manager of WGN America and Tribune Studios, in a statement.

Tribune Co., the parent of the Los Angeles Times, reported that earnings tumbled in the second quarter as revenue dropped sharply in its broadcast division and advertising continued to decline at its newspapers. The media giant reported net income of $66.3 million in the three months that ended June 30, a 61.2% plunge from $170.8 million in the year-earlier period. Revenue slid 10.5% to $730.2 million, while pretax income skidded 39.7% to $110.4 million. Tribune continued to reduce costs, with operating expenses dropping $50 million to $640.6 million.

Transportation officials have shelved plans for a second entrance to a downtown subway station across from L.A. police headquarters and the Los Angeles Times because the newspaper's parent company says it may develop the site, according to Metro documents published Tuesday. The Tribune Co. property, a parking lot in downtown L.A.'s Historic Core, is the site of a future station along a $1.4-billion subway aimed at closing one of the most frustrating gaps in Los Angeles County's growing rail network.

Tribune Co. has reached an agreement with Sony Corp. of America to acquire Gracenote Inc., a music data company. Tribune, the parent of the Los Angeles Times, will pay $170 million for the company in a deal expected to close within the first quarter of 2014. In a statement Monday, Tribune said it will combine Gracenote with Tribune Media Services, which provides television and movie metadata. "As we strategically invest in growth areas, increase our scale, and extend our core businesses, Gracenote is an ideal addition to our portfolio," Peter Liguori, Tribune's chief executive, said in an email to Tribune's staff. "Bringing together Gracenote with Tribune Media Services will create one of the largest entertainment metadata companies in the world.” ON LOCATION: Where the cameras roll Gracenote, which is headquartered in Emeryville, Calif., was bought by Sony in 2008.

Tribune Co. on Friday completed its acquisition of the independent Local TV Holdings group, transforming the Chicago company into one of the largest broadcasters in the nation with 39 television stations. The move, announced by Tribune Chief Executive Peter Liguori, is an important first step in the company's evolution from a company dependent on dwindling revenue from its newspapers and into a formidable broadcast group that reaches an estimated 50 million U.S. homes. Tribune is the parent company of the Los Angeles Times.

After announcing a plan to split its newspaper unit into a separate company, Tribune Co. is turning its attention to its real estate. The media company announced Tuesday the hiring of Murray McQueen to fill the newly created position of president of real estate. He will assess whether Tribune is making as much money as it can from its holdings, including its historic newspaper properties. “We have more than seven million square feet of space under management from coast to coast, including the historic Tribune Tower in Chicago and Times Mirror Square in Los Angeles,” Peter Liguori, Tribune's chief executive, wrote in a memo to employees.

Tribune Co. has agreed to purchase 19 television stations owned by Local TV Holdings in a $2.73-billion deal that is expected to make Tribune the largest television station group in the country. Tribune and Local TV Holdings said early Monday that they had entered into a definitive agreement for Tribune to acquire all of Local TV's television stations in a cash transaction. Local TV's stations are located in 16 markets, including Denver, Salt Lake City, Cleveland and Kansas City.

WASHINGTON - Rep. Henry Waxman said a meeting between his staff and Tribune Co. executives did not ease his concerns about the fate of the Los Angeles Times once the company spins off its newspaper operations. The Democrat from Los Angeles also requested a sit-down with Tribune Chief Executive Peter Liguori. "They described what they were doing as in the best interest of their shareholders," Waxman said Wednesday in an interview about the meeting with Tribune Chief Financial Officer Steven Berns and General Counsel Edward Lazarus.

Tribune Co. agreed to sell its suburban shopper, the Penny Saver, to SEI Shoppers Corp. The sale was expected to be completed late this month, Tribune Community Publications said. Terms were not disclosed. The Penny Saver is published and distributed in portions of Du Page, Will and Cook counties in the Chicago area. Tribune Co. publishes the Chicago Tribune and New York's Daily News.

SHREVEPORT, La. - A woodsy stretch of Willow Lake Farm, just outside this city, has been painstakingly built to look like a 17 t h century New England village, filled with shops and houses with steep-pitched roofs and drab clapboard exteriors. Milling about nearby are women in elaborate capes and cinched dresses, and men clad in peasant shirts and heavy coats. It's all textbook quaint - until you see the towering gallows at the center of town. This is the setting for "Salem," the new TV series from Tribune Co.'s WGN America set in the Massachusetts village that was the scene of notorious Colonial witch trials.

Russ Newton joined The Times in 2000 as director of operations and president at California Community News, one of the Times wholly-owned business units. Before joining The Times, he was director of operations from 1998 to 2000 at Landoll Inc., a Tribune Education company. Previously, he led the packaging department at the Orlando Sentinel in Orlando, Fla., from 1994 to 1998, and the production division, press and packaging areas at the Daily Press in Newport News, Va., from 1987 to 1994. Newton joined Tribune Co. in 1985, serving as a shift supervisor, crew supervisor and trainer at the Chicago Tribune from 1985 to 1987.

Tribune Co.'s newspaper unit will pay a dividend of up to $275 million to its parent when it is spun off later this year, according to a government filing. The new Tribune Publishing Co. will own the Los Angeles Times and seven other newspapers. Shares of the company will trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol TPUB. Details about the dividend were made public in a lengthy filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission submitted late Friday. The dividend has sparked opposition from critics who say it would weigh on the company at a time of diminishing advertising revenue and intensifying digital competition.

WASHINGTON -- Rep. Henry A. Waxman said Friday that six media experts he consulted have serious concerns about the fate of the Los Angeles Times under the Tribune Co.'s plans to spin off the newspaper and seven others into a separate unit and called on company executives to change the terms. The experts said the spinoff provisos, such as a requirement for the newspaper unit to pay the parent company a cash dividend that could be about $325 million, would "place the long-term viability of the Los Angeles Times and other Tribune papers at risk," Waxman (D-Beverly Hills)

Tribune Digital Ventures, the technology and innovation arm of Tribune Co., has agreed to acquire TV by the Numbers, a source of television ratings analysis and programming news, the company said Thursday. Tribune Digital Ventures is also relaunching its entertainment website Zap2it to focus on helping consumers discover programming to watch on traditional TV and streaming services, including Netflix, Amazon and Hulu. Financial details were...

Profit at Tribune Co., the parent of the Los Angeles Times and other newspaper, radio and television properties, fell sharply last year amid a further decline in newspaper advertising and a significant drop in earnings at its broadcast division. The Chicago media company reported net income of $241.6 million for the year, down 43% from $422.5 million in 2012. Total operating revenue fell 8% to $2.9 billion, with a 6% decline in publishing and an 11% drop in broadcasting. For the fourth quarter, revenue dropped $97 million, or 11%, to $773 million, partly because the quarter included one fewer week than the previous year's final three months.

December 12, 2008 | Todd Lighty and Robert Becker, Lighty and Becker write for the Chicago Tribune.

Tribune Co. acknowledged Thursday that it had been subpoenaed in the federal criminal case against Illinois' governor, Democrat Rod R. Blagojevich, and sources confirmed that the FBI had interviewed a close associate of company Chairman Sam Zell. The associate, Nils Larsen, is the financial advisor who allegedly was asked to help get Chicago Tribune editorial writers fired. (None were fired.) Larsen, a Tribune Co.

A deadline Tribune Co. set to announce the results of its six-month-long strategic review passed without the media giant revealing a decision about its future. Members of Tribune's board of directors met to consider two offers to buy the nation's second-largest newspaper publisher by circulation. The company's properties include the Chicago Tribune, the Los Angeles Times and KTLA.

Media General is acquiring LIN Media for $1.6 billion in stock and cash, the companies said Friday. The combination of Media General and LIN will create a local broadcasting giant that will own and operate 74 television stations in 46 mostly midsized and smaller markets. Overall, Media General and LIN will have a nationwide reach of about 23%. Only Baltimore-based Sinclair Broadcast Group, which owns and operates almost 170 outlets, will be bigger than the new Media General in terms of television stations.

After the coffee. Before confessing that I invented Bitcoin. The Skinny: My Sunday TV viewing is going to get more complicated. I'm already juggling "The Walking Dead," "Girls," "True Detective" and "The Good Wife. " Now ABC is adding "Resurrection" to the mix. I really liked the pilot and hope the series can deliver. Today's roundup includes the weekend box office preview. Also the FCC is working on new rules for local TV, and Disney makes big cuts at its interactive unit.